ArtnLight

Hola! Quick news. {Clearly my fashion consciousness is awakening :)} Check out Divya Anand's vibrant cuts and colours at Dhoop Crafts - and for regulars at Dhoop - this will also be a chance to check out the New Dhoop Store.

I like that Divya's work has both pop & subtle & I loved her cuts and the detailing.

Check out the Dhoop Clothes Bazaar at the new Dhoop this Friday, 30 and Saturday 31 May 2014 featuring hand-crafted clothing by Divya Anand.

I have been putting together something. Its still going on and fingers crossed and if all goes according to plan, I should have some really exciting news to share with all of you soooon! Meantime I have been shooting my products, The Queen series of trays which are so popular now have boxes in the same designs. These past few months while I was quickly making these boxes and sending them for the Jaypore Event and then selling on LimeRoad.com, I did not have the time or the bandwidth to shoot them. But here they are finally. A few shots of a few boxes, The hand painted gold details on the boxes is what makes these boxes extra special. It takes time, neatness and a lot of patience and love. I was really keen that the photographs show up the gold work - so in some pictures I had to take the pictures at un-natural angles and really pushing the products to catch the sun. So the painstakingly hand done gold work may be seen.

This is the Rectangular Knick Knack box and measures at 11x7x4 inches and is great to hold all manner of things.

This is what I meant when I said I had to shoot them in strange angles to catch the light.

This Square box has a lift-off knob lid and measures 7x7x3 inches and can be a great jewellery box/

This 8x8x3 Square Hinge Box has a hinged lid and can work very well as a Jewellery or a tissue box.

There is a lot more coming up. Many new products and many product extentions you asked for. So do stay tuned. Hopefully I can make the happy announcement sooner than later :)

I have a confession to make, in the middle of designing this collection some health problems showed up that are getting sorted but it kept me out of action for the most part, and I could not attend the launch of the collection. You can see the pictures of the lauch here.

Back to the prints - here you go.

....this

A very vintage and romantic print. Which Nisha Sainani has translated beautifully into skirts, palazzo pants and dresses.

She has combined it with this fun and feminine leather bustier top to give the collection a happy twist.

This is my favourite design from the collection. A vintage scissor print mixed with geometrics and soft colours.

1. I can work in collaboration with a fellow creative person. The earlier me would have been scared to enter into something like this - because as every creative person knows, creation is an extremely individual process, where the result and therefore the credit is what gives the creative person satisfaction and identity.

2. The value of being open. And the importance of trusting.

3. The value of choosing the right people to work with. I learnt so much from Nisha Sainani, her gentle ways in combination of her persistence is such a unique quality, her capacity to truly multi-task, I saw her helping organise a huge wedding in her family and putting this collection together simultaneously. Without loosing it. Amazing.

I would love to hear what you think of this collection, and to the creative people reading this post, how tough or easy is it for you to work on a creative collaboration. I have really been thinking of this.

Or actually collaboration of any kind. It involves more people than you and therefore the responsibility at every step is shared. As is the outcome. What has your experience been, I'd love to hear from you.

A creative collaboration is so much more than these formal words connote. It is the willingly coming together of 2 divergent people, who have 2 different creative visions and it is saying lets see what we can make together. When Nisha Sainani called me in the beginning of this year and asked me if I would design prints for her Spring Summer collection - I was super excited but I also had butterflies in my stomach. I knew nothing of fashion - I didn't follow trends, collections, fashion forecasts - this was completely new territory. And what I did know was that Nisha Sainani's work and my work are stylistically very different. And yet, this just had to be explored. I was not about to pass this one up. So we sat together, she shared with me her vision of what she saw we could do together. We selected our colour palette together and she was very clear that she wanted Florals. And so florals it would be. The place where we met was we were both 'vintage' lovers and we both just wanted to have fun - so that's what we went ahead and did - had a lot of fun. I got to sit in Sainani's beautiful studio (designed lovingly by Design United) and we sat together and created this collection, one design at a time. Sharing with you a few pictures of how "Sunshine, Freedom and a little flower" came to be.

For me it was such a new experience, new learning, new ways to imagine and visualise. And an opportunity to see and learn closely from a fellow designer. To see how prints translate on fabric, to see how another artist translates my work to another medium and takes it further.

This was the 1st time we put together all the designs and the colour swatches we worked from. And it was it coming together. This was such a happy moment. Till then we were just working, working, working, details, improvement etc etc & suddenly - we zoomed out & looked at what we had. And it was working.

And this was the 1st print - we both loved this vintage floral print - but what could we do to make it fun? Put a pink gun in it! :) As far as symbolism goes - we wanted to pull it both ways - nothing gets more masculine than a gun - so paint it pink :)

The next one is a pure romantic print. Old world, vintage and smells of English roses and hints at history.

Then we thought - what if we up the intensity on the Roses?

All florals, variations of the same palette, but 3 very different moods.

Nisha Sainani has shirts, tops, dresses, sarees, gowns and long skirts in these prints.

These are just 3 designs of the many I created for the 'Sunshine, Freedom and a little Flower' collection. Will share more soon, stay tuned.

2. And give a name/word that comes to your mind about this collection.
You can write/post on Nisha Sainani's FB Wall. And ofcourse share and
spread the love with all your friends who love fashion and who will be
interested.

Nisha Sainani will choose 1 winner from these comments who will get a
surprise gift from the all new Spring-Summer 2014 Collection 'Sunshine,
Freedom & a little Flower'

If you want to write a book - this post is for you. If you have been toying with the idea, wondering if now is the time or 20 years down the line, if this idea of writing your book won't let you be, then please read ahead. Christine Mason Miller is leading an E- Course, "The Conscious Booksmith: A Mindful Approach to Creating Your Book! This thoughtfully created E-course - a collaboration with the beautiful Jen Gray and Michelle Madden-Smith of Animist
- is a guide for aspiring authors and book-makers. It is filled with
tools and inspiration designed to support the creation of a
comprehensive book plan reflective of your values, priorities and
ideals."
From the time I came across Christine Mason Miller's work on Holly Beckers blog decor8, it had me hooked, with its honesty, with its grace and its gentle genuine voice. From that time to featuring her on this blog, to connecting on facebook, to being part of her book Desire to Inspire, conversations on skype, to meeting deadlines & continual interactions on email, to going over to Los Angeles for the book launch of Desire to Inspire, never once did the feeling of genuine-ness change. I met Christine face to face for the 1st time when I landed in the L.A airport, my 1st journey outside India, she had come to pick me up. I saw her organise everything, meticulously, and I saw how much room she left for things to happen on their own. She is one of the rare people who are equally comfortable with planning and with being open ended. Organised and creative, meticulous and mad. Firm and infinitely gentle. And the result was that, you felt completely taken care of and there was so much room for fun. Christine nurtures instinctively, she watches, observes and guides without giving you a feeling that you are being guided.

"To
be in the care of Christine's guidance is to gift yourself her gentle
wisdom, her nurturing spirit, and her firm belief in the power of
personal truth. Christine gives you her whole attention and an
unshakable faith in your potential."

I met her again in Jaipur this year, she had come to India and we spent 2 happy crazy days. She went back to the U.S. and before I knew it, she was posting from Japan. And then she came back to start this E-course. Anyone who has travelled abroad and anyone who has taken an E-course knows how demanding all of this can be. But if there is anyone who can make it seem like a cake walk it is Christine. I want to share this video and so you can hear and see her speak about the course.

About Me

I'm an ex-advertising art director, who stumbled into the world of design blogging not knowing that it would change my life. I am now an independent design consultant with a growing decor accessories business.